Former President Clinton to speak at Omega Institute

KINGSTON — Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to give a keynote address at the Omega Institute's annual environmental conference Oct. 4 in Rhinebeck.

Pauline Liu

KINGSTON — Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to give a keynote address at the Omega Institute's annual environmental conference Oct. 4 in Rhinebeck.

Omega executives confirmed the news on Tuesday, one day after Hillary Clinton signed with the same New York City-based speaker agency that represents her husband.

"This year's Omega Center for Sustainable Living conference brings together those at the forefront of whole systems thinking — including President Bill Clinton, and leading economists, environmentalists, philanthropists, designers, architects, and activists — who will share their insights for navigating the complex challenges facing humanity," said Skip Backus, Omega's chief executive officer.

The conference is titled, "Where We Go From Here: Opportunities & Solutions for an Interdependent World."

As for what Clinton will say or the price of admission, those details are still in the works.

"We do not have any details about his remarks yet," said Chrissa Pullicino, Omega's public relations manager. "We will be offering tiered pricing for the conference, but it's not up for sale yet."

Clinton will be among a field of distinguished speakers at the conference, which runs from Oct. 4-Oct. 6. They include Jeremy Rifkin of the Foundation on Economic Trends and Emmy Award-winning musician Peter Buffett, who is the son of business magnate Warren Buffett.

One day earlier, Hillary Clinton joined the lucrative speaking circuit and signed exclusively with the Manhattan-based Harry Walker Agency. She is not on the list of speakers.

Omega had no response when asked how much the former president would be paid to speak.

According to various media sources, Bill Clinton raked in a cool $13.4 million in speaking engagements in 2011 and has earned as much as $290,000 for a single speech.

pliu@th-record.com

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